Safety  devices for led balloons

ABSTRACT

A safety feature for an LED Balloon, wherein the LED balloon comprises an LED light source secured to a housing inside the balloon, and the housing engages a locking element on the exterior of the balloon. The safety feature comprising a flexible sheet adhered to the exterior of the balloon adjacent said locking element.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/198,354 filed on Jul. 29, 2015.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to various safety devices for a balloonwith a Light Emitting Diode (LED) secured to the inside of the balloon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Balloons are used as festive decorations at parties, meetings andceremonies. They can be of different sizes, shapes and colors and canhave prints on their surfaces. However, balloons are typically visiblein environments with sufficient lighting.

To expand usage of balloons, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,204,740; 7,320,529 and7,850,328 B2 describe certain LED balloons that have LED devices mountedoutside the mouth (openings) of the balloons to achieve certainillumination effects that are different from regular unlit balloons.U.S. Pat. No. 8,297,778 improves upon the prior devices by securing asmall LED held within a housing to the interior of the balloon with aclip or O-shaped band held to the housing on the exterior of theballoon, and pending U.S. Pat. No. 9,199,180 filed Oct. 4, 2013describes an LED device with locking device for the housing placedinside the balloon.

As a safety feature should the balloon rupture, U.S. Pat. No. 8,297,778describes use of a parachute material attached to the housing. When suchballoons rupture, they may separate into pieces, and the elements of theballoon held to the housing for the LEDs may be propelled into the air.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present application describes an alternate feature, of adhering aflexible sheet to the exterior of the balloon, for preventing thehousing holding the LEDs in a balloon from flying about should theballoon rupture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates the preferred embodiments of the present invention

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in FIG. 1, a balloon 10 includes LEDs 8 powered by batteries 9secured by elements 5 and 6 in a housing 3 secured by element 11 to theinside of the balloon 10 by halves 4-1 and 4-2 of the housing that canbe snapped together.

In the embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 1, aflexible attachment 20 has an adhesive undercoating to enable theattachment to be secured to the exterior of the top of the balloonadjacent the locking element 11. In the event the balloon 10 shouldrupture, the attachment 20 will add sufficient mass to reduce theability of the housing 3 to be propelled with enough force to pose adanger.

In the preferred embodiment, flexible attachment (20) is made ofmaterial with enough flexibility to allow it to be secured to the curvedsurface of an inflated balloon. In such an embodiment, flexibleattachment (20) is secured to the balloon after inflation.

In an alternate embodiment flexible attachment (20) is made of anelastic material, and can be adhered to the balloon prior to inflation,either by the user or by the manufacturer prior to packing. The elasticmaterial enables the flexible attachment (20) to expand as the ballooninflates, remaining secured to the balloon adjacent the LED lockingelement.

What is claimed is:
 1. A safety feature for an LED Balloon, said LEDballoon having an LED light source secured to a housing inside aballoon; said housing engaging a locking element on the exterior of saidballoon; and said safety feature comprising a flexible sheet adhered tothe exterior of the balloon adjacent said locking element.
 2. A safetyfeature for an LED Balloon of claim 1, wherein said flexible sheet ismade of an elastic material such that said flexible sheet can be securedto the balloon before inflation and said flexible sheet will stretch asthe balloon is inflated.
 3. A method of providing a safety feature foran LED Balloon; said method comprising: providing an LED balloon havingan LED light source secured to a housing inside a balloon; said housingengaging a locking element on the exterior of said balloon; providing asafety feature comprising a flexible sheet with an adhesiveundercoating; and providing instruction to adhere the flexible sheet tothe balloon adjacent said locking element after inflation.